Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Al Jazeera comment

Profile: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad

8/12/2004 7:15:00 PM GMT

Dr. Mahathir Mohamad is an international icon in the Islamic world respected as a great modern Islamic leader who turnedMalaysia from a rubber exporting country into a technological and regional economic powerhouse.

Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’spolicies at home have won him much popular support and helped transform Malaysia into an Asian economic powerhouse. During the process he turned himself into one of Asia's longest-serving leader, and when he retired in October 2003 he had been in office for 22 years.

Dr Mahathir, is regarded as a visionary in the Islamic world. Some of his ideas whilst originally regarded as rather grand, slowly in time have and will continue to become realities. Two of Dr Mahathir's original ideas of an Islamic Gold Dinar to be used as a common currency between initially Islamic governments and then likely later as a common currency, and Oil traded using the Euro currency as opposed to just the US Dollar are now likely to happen within a decade.

Because of the high regard Dr Mahathir is held in the Islamic world he has been tipped as becoming the next General Secretary of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).

Throughout his rule Dr Mahathir, took a tough stand against those who threatened the stability of Malaysia. This most notably included foreign speculators such as George Saros who benefited at Malaysia's expense during the Asian Economic Crisis in 1997.

1997 proved a turbulent time for Dr Mahathir as Anwar Ibrahim, once his deputy and heir apparent, was dismissed for being a "sodomist" and homosexual, both of which are crimes under Malaysian law. Anwar Ibrahim was later sentenced by the Malaysian judicial process and was only recently released in 2004.

Frank Talker

The Malay Dilemma (a publication by Mahathir Mohamad) struck such a chord with younger UMNO (United Malaya National Organisation, the political party of Mahathir Mohamad) leaders that he was eventually appointed minister of education. Within four years he had become deputy leader of Umno, and in 1981 he became prime minister.

Dr Mahathir set about putting his ideas into practice, following the example set by Japan, transforming Malaysia from an exporter of rubber and tin into a manufacturer of electronic equipment, steel and cars.

Defending Asian and Malaysian values, he criticised what he called Western double standards and won a following among developing countries.

His prestige projects to boost national pride included the world's tallest building - the PetronasTowers - and the transformation of a palm oil plantation near the capital into the world's first "Multimedia Super Corridor" - a cyber powerhouse intended to rival California'sSilicon Valley.

Malaysia emerged relatively unscathed from the Asian financial crisis after Dr Mahathir defied the International Monetary Fund, introducing controversial currency controls which effectively isolated his country from the global economy.

But relations with the West have continued to fluctuate. In June this year Dr Mahathir described Westerners - or more particularly "Anglo-Saxon Europeans" -- as proponents of "war, sodomy and genocide".

Days before he resigned, he angered several foreign governments and Jewish groups by claiming the a Jewish cabal "ruled the world".

Below are listed some of his most famous comments.

On Jews

"The Jews for example are not merely hook-nosed, but understand money instinctively."

Later, on the drop in the value of the Malaysian currency:

"We are Muslims and the Jews are not happy to see Muslims' progress. We may suspect that they have an agenda but we do not want to accuse them... If viewed from Palestine, the Jews have robbed Palestinians of everything but they cannot do this in Malaysia, so they do this."

On gay British MPs

"The British people accept homosexual ministers but if they ever come here bringing their boyfriend along, we will throw them out."

On Europeans

"They are very clever, brave and have an insatiable curiosity... unfortunately they are also very greedy and like to take forcibly the territories and rights of other people."

"The culture and the values which they will force us to accept will be hedonism, unlimited quest for pleasure, the satisfaction of base desires, particularly sexual desires. Our way of life must be the same as their way of life. Asian values do not exist to them."

On Australia

"This country stands out like a sore thumb trying to impose its European values in Asia as if it is the good old days when people can shoot aborigines without caring about human rights."

"Australia has made known to the world that it wants to be the deputy sheriff of this region. It's very difficult to get along with deputy sheriffs."